The United States denies the offer made by NATO ally Poland to give its Russian-made fighter jets to Ukraine to replenish the Ukrainian air force.
On Tuesday, the United States rejected Poland’s unexpected offer to send its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to a US airbase in Germany to help Ukraine’s air force in its war with Russia.
Washington has sought to deliver ammunition to Ukraine. But flying combat aircraft from NATO territory to a war zone
“raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,”
the Pentagon said.
NATO has clarified that it doesn’t want a direct conflict with a fellow nuclear power.
US President Joe Biden has ruled out deploying US troops to the war-torn Ukraine. It is something, according to the Pentagon, that would apply to troops both on the ground and in the air.
“It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it,”
John Kirby, the Pentagon’s spokesperson, tweeted while discussing Poland’s proposal.
“We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,”
Kirby added.
A surprise move
Victoria Nuland, State Department Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
“To my knowledge, it wasn’t pre-consulted with us that they planned to give these planes to us.”
“So I think that was actually a surprise move by the Poles,”
she said.
The move raises doubts about the practicality of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s appeal for the West to send Russian-made combat aircrafts, which he emphasised in a video chat with US lawmakers on Saturday.
US legislators are pressuring the Biden administration to transfer military aid and aircraft to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Sensitivities to Poland’s announcement
Poland’s foreign ministry said it was prepared to send its MiG-29 fighter jets to Germany’s Ramstein Air Base and make them accessible to the United States.
It asked the rest of NATO members to assist Ukraine in the same way.
Although Poland has proposed to help Ukraine with weapons, it has said that it won’t provide jets as it is not a direct party in the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, a non-NATO country.
Earlier this week, the Russian Defence Ministry warned that any country that allows Ukraine to use its airfield to strike Russia will be deemed to have directly entered the conflict.
Edited By: Kiran Maharana
Published By: Shramana Sengupta
